Reflections of the Past

On this part of our trip we traveled from Westport to Clifden on the southwest side of Ireland.  Now if we went straight there it would take about 1 hour and some odd minutes.  But did we go that way?  Pshaw - of course not!  We took the longest way possible and went the coastal route.  Along the way we came upon a fantastic place - an abandoned church with the gates open (woohoo!!)

Usually Karl and I like to visit old cemeteries and see how old the gravestones are, but this was a jewel find.  When we've seen buildings like this during our travels they are in fields or on private property so we can't get to them.  Some I would have loved to explore.  But we were in luck with this one.  We drove up the driveway and walked around and in this for about 30 minutes.  All the wood has deteriorated and grass and ivy have invaded the insides, but you could still see (in your imagination) how beautiful it would have been.  Out in the back was a gravestone and huge monument for the Lord High Bishop of Killala Co. who died in 1866.  Then we arrive at our B&B (about 5 hours later) and the owner tells us about another abandoned building just a 20 minute walk from the house.  Of course we couldn't pass that up.  So off we go walking down a dirt path among cow pastures and  horse pastures and come upon this:

 It is Clifden Castle of 1856.  Again it was abandoned and we spent about another 30 minutes walking around it.  It the floors were intact, it would have been a three floor residence.  We think it was more of a residence than a defensive castle because there were no windows for defense.  Most of the walls had lost the outer slate covering, but you could still see some of the slate higher up that showed a design on the walls.  Huge fireplaces were in the walls and you could see where the poles would have been to hold the floor in place.

The next day we went to the Aran Islands which I had missed going to the last time I was here.  The islands are off the southwest coast and consist of 3 islands, the largest being Inis Mor.  There are only 800 residents on this island, but during the summer holiday months the island increases to over 2000 per day!  The other two islands, Inis Meain and Inis Orr only have about 200 residents per island and they don't get the tourists like Inis Mor does.  We hired a pony cart to take us around the island (which is only 9 miles long and 2 miles wide) and we had a tour with Jack and his owner (we forgot to ask his name - doh!)  If you aren't sure what a pony cart is, watch the movie The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara - she drives a pony cart.  Anyway, Jack and his owner took us up to Dun Aonghasa fort which is a semi-circular Celtic stone fort built by Celtic tribesmen  about 2000 B.C.  The fort was built on the highest point on the island so that you could see all around you.  One side of it is sitting on sheer cliffs.

Here is a picture of Karl taking a picture of the cliffs.  Notice how close he is to the edge (without any railings or barriers!)

And this is what he was shooting!!!!

Tomorrow we are off to Waterford where I will hopefully get to the Crystal factory (which I also missed last time I was here because we arrived on Sunday.)